A Brave New Year

                              The View from Ardnacross, Isle of Mull


It has been a quiet on my blog of late

By now I should have blogged about, the Zebra Shoot, my foray into Infra Red and my new affordable digital Download series 'The Story Behind the picture' (which is going rather well, thank you to all of you who bought it)

But somehow I have not got round to it, mainly because I have had a crazy schedule over the last month, with the launch of my food book, building the new website, working on an ambitious and rather big photographic project with my partner Lucinda Marland which we sincerely hope will make quite a splash in 2012(you will be the first to know about it when I'm able to talk about it) throw into the mix a road trip to the Isle of Mull on the west coast of Scotland and that was December more than full.

2010 was a pivotal year for me in so many ways

And I learned some very big lessons -

1.That things can change very quickly indeed.

2. Engaging in area's and with people that you had no prior knowledge of, can change your world and that of others too

3. Sheer persistence and not taking 'no' for an answer can carry the day

The key in the lock was travelling to South Africa to undertake a week long workshop with some under privileged youths in a South African township

Doing this workshop opened so many doors for me, personally and spiritually

Giving is one of the most powerful things we can do as human beings

But in all probability learned more from them than they did from me

I know and understand that we can't all tear off around the world, but there are many ways in which we can give back, using our photography, on our own doorstep

I suppose what I'm driving at is that we as photographer's, myself included, often get wrapped up with the obsession of equipment and not what we do with it.

One of the high points for me this year was when Diego Huerta and his girlfriend went out to record the Hurricane which hit their city

The only way I feel for a living breathing photographer to grow is to shoot what one loves and learn along the way, not only about photography but about life itself as one does

As the economic recovery continues to be uncertain, with tough times ahead for all working photographers and amateur photographers in their day jobs, I see great challenges ahead, but also great opportunities.

If we did just one thing to make a difference, large or small, and put some of that fancy photographic equipment to use it can make a bigger difference than one might imagine.

So my friends I wish you a very Happy New Year

Let's get out there and shoot some great pictures which make a difference - someway, somehow

Bui Brothers iphone Pano from Zebra Forest shoot

Just one more day before the video and images from the Zebra shoot are up

In the meantime I thought I would post an extraordinary photo form the shoot which was taken by the Bui Brothers on their iphone(s)

Yes, you read right

This 51MB stitch was done on the fly at the shoot

I think you will agree with me that this degree of quality should make us all sit up and take notice

Remember if you want to know more about this and the rest of my Forest shoot series please do join me at my Manfrotto School of Xcellence Webinar on Monday 6th December

They tell me there is still space right now and it is FREE!

Food glorious Food

Followers of this blog know will I'm nuts about photography but perhaps don't know I have perhaps an equal passion for food

So some two years ago I was asked by Andrew Pern of Michelin Starred 'The Star Inn' to shoot his new game food book 'Loose Birds and Game' I leapt at the chance

Hanging out in the kitchen of Britain's top gastro pub and sampling THE finest food

Little did I know what a monster I was taking on, putting few thousand miles on my car and a few inches on my waistline

360 pages packed with my photography, in and out of the kitchen

Out on pheasant shoots, deer stalking exploring the upper limits of high ISO on my Canon 5d MkII

Lots of kitchen action and those plated shots.

Yes, those plated shots (all shot on a phase One P45+)

New territory for me but hoping that this first foray into food photography will not be my last

Assisted by Marie Absolom who has worked with some of the biggest names in the food photography business, she kept me on the straight and narrow and taught me so much.

Mainly that when it comes to food photography time is of the essence and food only looks good for a fleetingly short period of time when you are working with real food, which we did.

The book should be out in the next week or so (so long as the truck does not get stuck in the snow!)  and you will be able to buy it from me direct from my all new website, a great Christmas present for a foodie

I will be sharing some of my experiences over the coming months but in the meantime I thought I would share some of the pages with you

News from the South African Townships,Thanks to the Flash Centre and Velmex

Followers of this blog will know of my visit to the South African townships of Vrygrond and Overcome Heights earlier this year where I held held a Workshop for township youth's under the stewardship of the NGO True North.

It was a success in many respects with some of the students continuing to use the Canon 450D's to earn money in the community, photographing weddings, christenings and parties

The real sadness was that while computers are relatively affordable a good quality wide format printer which is capable of delivering great photographic and graphic results is out of everyone's league.

Why was I so stuck on a wide format printer? Well aside from the considerably lower running costs think of this...

In the townships HIV and AIDS is rife, there is a degree of awareness but imagine if it were relatively cheap and easy to print public health posters and post them in the community?

All of a sudden a printer becomes more than a way of the students seeing their own work and for the more motivated to earn some kind of living in a country where unemployment is the number one enemy.

Fast forward a few months to July and I'm visiting my friends in the Flash Centre.

Its stock taking time and everyone is wading through equipment in the bowels of the shop.

I'm chatting to my old friend Chris Whittle, the owner of the Flash Centre, he knows of my visit to South Africa and he asks me what is next with the project.

He listens with interest as I tell him just what a great impact the project has had with everyone involved and how I was trying to get a wide format printer to the community.

He smiles and motions to a Secondhand but very good Canon W6400 in the corner of the basement and says 'You can have that if you like'.

I accept his offer with indecent haste thanking him profusely.

Then it sinks in.

Chris Whittle of the Flash Centre has donated a wonderful Canon W6400 wide format printer.

Dimensions (in inches) 43.2 x 47.3 x 29.6


Weight 108lbs (around 50kgs)

How on earth am I going to get it to South Africa???????

So I rang Mark Keeley the CEO of Velmex, distributors of the fantastic Canon LFP products.

The conversation went something like this:

Drew.  'Hi Mark how are things?

Mark. 'Great thank you Drew'

Drew. 'The Flash Centre have donated a Canon W6400 printer to the Township project. Do you know of any good shipping companies who could ship it to South Africa?'

Mark. 'That sounds like a worthy cause, can we check it over, refurbish it and ship it for you?'

Drew 'That would be fantastic, are you sure?'

Mark 'Yes, we would love to help. We can throw in some spare ink and paper for it too'

Drew.'Thank you!!!!!!!!

Within the hour it was loaded in the back of my car for its journey to Velmex HQ in South London to start its long journey.

To be honest it was a much longer journey than any of us could have imagined as True North only got their hands on it in the past couple of weeks thanks to Customs and storage issues, leaving the NGO scrabbling to find funds to get the printer released.

So they are now installing it and within a short space of time it will be in full use with the students.

Without Chris Whittle of the Flash Centre who donated the printer and Mark Keeley of Velmex who shipped and prepped the printer it would not have been possible at all.

I cannot thank them enough for their contribution.

Their kindness and generosity will be felt by the the whole community, not just the students.

I will be travelling to the townships again early next year to run another week long workshop with the youths in the townships.

I will report back to you and let you know how the students are progressing, and the difference the printer is making.

Drew Gardner workshop Belgium- Hosted by Bert Stephani

There has been quite a lot to cram in of late, and the pace is not slowing at all, as you will see in the next few weeks

All a bit of a lame excuse for not getting this video of the workshop from the end of the Summer held at Bert Stephani's place in Belgium?

Belgium? Why Belgium?

Why not!

Workshops are driven by demand and Bert asked me while I was over in Belgium for a seminar

So I'm alway open to suggestions.........

It was a fun weekend with photographers sharing ideas and playing with a whole heap of Elinchrom lighting, aided in no small part by Servix the Elinchrom agent for Belgium

Drew Gardner Workshop at Bert Stephani HQ Belgium from drew gardner on Vimeo.

Really struck by the differences between the different approaches of the groups

It was a great fun, I hope to repeat it next year

Stanley Kubrick Fotografo 1945-1950, Venice

When I was in Venice a couple of weeks ago I caught the Stanley Kubrick Fotografo 1945-1950 show at the Istituto Veneto di Science

Kubrick started his career, not with moving images but with stills

He started shooting when he was just 17 years old for 'Look' magazine

It is an interesting exhibition for many reasons, with some very beautiful images

Even in his very early work you can see the visual language of his great movies

You get to see the very 'seeds' of his work, they are movies in still form

With a few notable exceptions, you don't see photojournalism 'per se' at work.

What you do see is beautifully directed still images and in my opinion is all the more interesting for that

I found it a real inspiration

The show runs until December 8th, do catch it if you get the chance

You can get a sense of the exhibition with this video, even if you don't speak Italian


Stanley Kubrick Fotografo - Milano from flywheel impresacreativa on Vimeo.

When I worked for a photographer for the 'Sunday Telegraph' I had the pleasure to meet and photograph the late Stanley Kubrick's widow Christiane at their home,  and his final resting place, outside St Alban's a year or so after his death.

I shot a portrait of her with her cats, I would post the picture but it is buried in my negative archive, perhaps one day I will get round to scanning it

We had a chatter about all sorts and we spoke briefly about Stanley.

Moment like that are what I became a photographer for.

Priceless

Teaser from the Zebra shoot, the Latest from the 'Forest' Series

My latest addition to the Forest series is soon to be unveiled and today I've got an exciting teaser to share with you, put together by my good friends the Bui Brothers which I hope will whet your appetites.

Post production is in full swing and the whole thing is set to be completed and online by the end of November.



Drew Gardner Zebra Shoot Teaser from drew gardner on Vimeo.

In fact if you want to know more about this shoot and the rest of 'The Forest' series why not join me (its FREE!) at my Manfrotto School of Xcellence Webinar Tutorial on December 6th.

You can ask anything you like and I will do my very best to answer your queries.

2010 has been a brilliant year for me, my 30th as a professional photographer, and before the end of the year  I have some exciting new developments to be unveiled in December which I hope you will all enjoy.